Oussama Bouagila and Chahine Berriche, students and members of activist street-art group “Zwelwa” [sic; Zwewla], were arrested November 3rd in Gabes for writing on a wall: “the people want rights for the poor.” They were charged with defying the state of emergency, writing on government property and spreading messages that disturbed the public order.

Attorney Bochra Haj Hmida said that the students were being targeted for their socio-political message.

The trial of two Tunisian graffiti artists arrested last month in the industrial town of Gabes will be postponed until January 23, 2013.

Oussama Bouagila and Chahine Berriche were arrested on November 3 as they wrote on a wall: “the people want rights for the poor.” The defendants are charged with defying the state of emergency, writing on government property, and spreading messages that disturb the public order.

Bochra Haj Hmida, a member of the artists’ legal team, said the two students can face up to five years in prison.

The defendants are members of the activist street-art group Zwelwa, meaning “the poor” in Tunisian Arabic, which aims to address poverty and other social issues through graffiti.

Oussama Bougila said the case would not deter the group from their goals. “I will not give up resistance, and I will continue to do graffiti since it is my only way to transmit my voice and my demands.”